Week 164: Marriages and Broken Communication
Join us this week in praying for marriages in which
communication has broken down. By all accounts the lack of effective
communication is a frequent and devastating dysfunction in marriages.
The break down in communication can occur for a
wide range of reasons. Communication can grind to a halt if one’s words
or body language suggests disinterest in or contempt for a spouse’s
input. Sometimes the desire to communicate can dry up if a spouse feels
the other’s words are never followed by corresponding action, in other words,
if lightly made promises are never kept. Nagging can also cause
communication to cease.
When effective communication stops, all sorts of
misunderstandings and false assumptions are likely to spring up. The
resulting cascade of trouble and stress will then be difficult to reverse since
the very tool needed to effect this change, good communication, is already
impaired.
Pray with us this week that couples having
communication issues will
- Understand that respect for their spouse is one of the most important building blocks of effective communication
- Forgive and seek forgiveness for past hurts and not allow those hurts to stop their willingness to communicate
- Understand that individuals communicate differently and then seek to understand their spouse’s particular communication style
- Allow a break in a conversation headed in the wrong direction; in other words, know when to be quiet and return to the subject at a calmer, more appropriate time
- For husbands: pray they will understand communication does not always have a precise point; not every conversation is problem solving; sometimes a wife just wants her husband to listen without trying to “fix” her or her expressed issue
- For wives: pray they will understand their husbands often communicate most openly and honestly when the conversation happens side-by-side as they are doing something together, instead of face-to-face in a static environment
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